Objective Most of the information that reaches our senses is unconsciously processed, affecting our behaviour but out of voluntary control. Only a small portion of our environment gains conscious awareness, shaping our “perception of the word”. Attention has been proposed as the mechanism that selects relevant information, prioritizing its arrival to a conscious state. Although the details are to be worked out, the orienting of attention seems to correlate with activity in large-scale brain networks. Whether the integrity of these attentional networks is necessary for conscious perception is still under debate. Converging evidence demonstrates that endogenous attention is dissociable from conscious perception. However, evidence from brain damaged patients suggests that some form of attention is actually necessary for a conscious representation of the environment. Damage of the right parietal lobe results in a syndrome known as neglect, which consists of a complete lost of awareness of contra-lesional stimulation. Deficits of spatial attention in neglect are not generalized, but concern foremost exogenous attention, with a relative sparing of endogenous orienting. This suggests that while endogenous attention might not be necessary for consciousness to emerge, some form of exogenous attention is a necessary condition for conscious perception. The main aim of our project is to explore the relationship between attention and consciousness and its implementation in the brain. This objective will be approached by using a variety of techniques. Our results will help us understand the neural basis of attention, consciousness, and voluntary control, which will directly apply in better diagnostic techniques as well as improved rehabilitation programs for brain damaged individuals. Fields of science medical and health sciencesclinical medicinephysiotherapy Keywords TMS attention conscious perception fMRI Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE EU contribution € 165 444,54 Address RUE DE TOLBIAC 101 75654 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Paolo Bartolomeo (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
